David Atlee Phillips And Absolute Power

[Ryan Crowe]

I found this last night.............

Perhaps because of the following account, David Atlee Phillips was questioned by the HSCA about his possible relationship with both Freeport Sulphur and Moa Bay Mining Company. While working for the HSCA, Fonzi interviewed James Cogswell III, in his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Cogswell presented Fonzi with various leads he felt were important to the case, one of which was the following:

Cogswell says the Bishop sketch resembles the former president of a Moa Bay subsidiary, Freeport Sulphur of New Orleans. Cogswell doesn't remember name of that officer, but says he knew he had very powerful connections and came from Texas.

When Phillips, who came from Texas, was asked about Freeport, the HSCA staffer noted this response:

Mr. Phillips stated that he "probably" did have some contacts with someone or some persons associated with the Moa Bay Mining Company, but he did not recall any specific names. He also "must have" had some contact with Freeport Sulphur people. "I was fairly socially active at the time and the name of the company is familiar to me."

Note that Phillips did not deny an association, but left it to the investigators to find more. Steve Dorrill reported in the Lobster article mentioned previously that one of the pilots of the Moa Bay Mining Company was Pedro Diaz Lanz, a hotshot pilot who defected from the head of Castro's air force and subsequently befriended both Frank Sturgis and E. Howard Hunt, both of whom have also been closely associated with David Phillips. Another employee of the Moa Bay Mining Company, Jorge Alfredo Tarafa, listed Freeport Nickel Company, Moa Bay Cuba as his place of employment from 9/21/59 to 4/8/60 on his job resume. Tarafa was identified as a delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Front (FRD) in New Orleans, headed by Sergio Arcacha Smith. The FRD was the group that E. Howard Hunt set up with exiled Cuban leader Tony Varona to sponsor anti-Castro activities.

Arcacha, Banister, and "Mr. Phillips"

Probe has turned up a long lost transcript of a deposition of a person whose name would be instantly recognized by anyone who has studied the Kennedy assassination. It is our hope to reveal the source of this deposition to the ARRB if and when they come to the West Coast.

In this deposition, we find the following startling information. Picking up where the witness was telling how Sergio Arcacha Smith, one of Garrison's original suspects in the Kennedy assassination planning, had invited the witness to a meeting in Guy Banister's office:

Q: Did you go alone to that meeting?

A: As I recall, I did, yes.

Q: Who was there?

A: Mr. Banister, Mr. Arcacha Smith, and Mr. Phillips.

Q: Do you know his first name [meaning Phillips]?

A: No.

Q: Had you seen him before?

A: No.

Q: Was he a Latin?

A: No.

Q: What was his interest in the meeting?

A: He seemed to be running the show.

Q: Telling Banister and Arcacha Smith what to do?

A: His presence was commanding. It wasn't in an orderly military situation, you know. It was just they seemed to introduce Mr. Phillips.

Q: How old a man was he?

A: I would say he was around 51, 52 [Note: the speaker is young.]

Q: American?

A: American.

Q: Was he identified as to his background?

A: No.

Q: Were hints dropped as to his background?

A: Just that he was from Washington, that's all.

Q: Did you assume from that he was with the CIA?

A: I didn't assume anything, I never assume anything. . . .I think someone mentioned something about this conversation isn't taking place.

The project that Banister and Arcacha and Mr. Phillips were working on, according to the witness, was to be a televised anti-Castro propaganda program, something that would have been in the direct purview of David Phillips as chief of propaganda for Cuban operations at that time.

[Linda Minor]

I found this last night.............

Perhaps because of the following account, David Atlee Phillips was questioned by the HSCA about his possible relationship with both Freeport Sulphur and Moa Bay Mining Company. While working for the HSCA, Fonzi interviewed James Cogswell III, in his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Cogswell presented Fonzi with various leads he felt were important to the case, one of which was the following:

Cogswell says the Bishop sketch resembles the former president of a Moa Bay subsidiary, Freeport Sulphur of New Orleans. Cogswell doesn't remember name of that officer, but says he knew he had very powerful connections and came from Texas.

When Phillips, who came from Texas, was asked about Freeport, the HSCA staffer noted this response:

Mr. Phillips stated that he "probably" did have some contacts with someone or some persons associated with the Moa Bay Mining Company, but he did not recall any specific names. He also "must have" had some contact with Freeport Sulphur people. "I was fairly socially active at the time and the name of the company is familiar to me."

Note that Phillips did not deny an association, but left it to the investigators to find more. ...

Arcacha, Banister, and "Mr. Phillips"

Probe has turned up a long lost transcript of a deposition of a person whose name would be instantly recognized by anyone who has studied the Kennedy assassination. It is our hope to reveal the source of this deposition to the ARRB if and when they come to the West Coast.

In this deposition, we find the following startling information. Picking up where the witness was telling how Sergio Arcacha Smith, one of Garrison's original suspects in the Kennedy assassination planning, had invited the witness to a meeting in Guy Banister's office:

Q: Did you go alone to that meeting?

A: As I recall, I did, yes.

Q: Who was there?

A: Mr. Banister, Mr. Arcacha Smith, and Mr. Phillips.

Q: Do you know his first name [meaning Phillips]?

A: No.

Q: Had you seen him before?

A: No.

Q: Was he a Latin?

A: No.

Q: What was his interest in the meeting?

A: He seemed to be running the show.

Q: Telling Banister and Arcacha Smith what to do?

A: His presence was commanding. It wasn't in an orderly military situation, you know. It was just they seemed to introduce Mr. Phillips.

Q: How old a man was he?

A: I would say he was around 51, 52 [Note: the speaker is young.]

Q: American?

A: American.

Q: Was he identified as to his background?

A: No.

Q: Were hints dropped as to his background?

A: Just that he was from Washington, that's all.

Q: Did you assume from that he was with the CIA?

A: I didn't assume anything, I never assume anything. . . .I think someone mentioned something about this conversation isn't taking place.

The project that Banister and Arcacha and Mr. Phillips were working on, according to the witness, was to be a televised anti-Castro propaganda program, something that would have been in the direct purview of David Phillips as chief of propaganda for Cuban operations at that time.

I have been doing a genealogical study of the family background of David Atlee Phillips on both his mother's and father's sides. If anyone is interested in this, I will share what I think may be relevant. My philosophy of research is that people--including those involved in intelligence operations--are motivated, as much if not more, by family business and financial interests as by philosophical persuasion. People whose ancestry can be traced back to leaders in the battles for independence of the Republic of Texas are a separate breed in themselves. David Atlee Phillips is within that mold.

Phillips stated in Nightwatch that his father died when David was five, "leaving my mother, three older brothers, and a portfolio of oil stocks which turned to ashes in the market crash of 1929. We were the poorest rich people in Fort Worth. A founder of a local country club, my father left us a life membership and the deed to a house on the fourth green."

The name of this father was Edwin T. Phillips, and he was a "corporation attorney" (according to 1920 census) in Tarrant County until his death in 1928. His wife was the former Mary Louisa Young from San Antonio, who became a charity worker/fund-raiser for social causes (like her mother had been) following the death of her husband.

The "local country club" Phillips referred to could only have been Rivercrest in Fort Worth, since, after David's father died, the 1930 census shows that 7-year-old David was living with his mother at 607 Rivercrest Drive, along with brothers Edwin Jr., James and Olcott. (According to county tax records, the home located at that street address today was built in 1930.)

http://www.winiklein.com/neighborhoods2/rivercrest_northcrest.html

...Some of the earliest residents in the River Crest development include: ...

Amon Carter Sr.

, who purchased David T. Bonner's home on Broad Avenue in 1919; and

W. T. Waggoner

, who built his home on River Crest Road in 1925

, moving from the home he had built across the street from his daughter, after Electra and her husband had moved from Thistle Hill....West side growth drastically changed after World War I began and

Camp Bowie opened on the 1,410 acres in Arlington Heights

. The division headquarters was located near River Crest Country Club. In 1917 and 1918, oil fields were discovered in northwest Texas. Leading oil men built their homes in River Crest while oil field workers were settling in Arlington Heights. During the 1920's and 30's, men with fortunes in cattle, banking, real estate, mercantile interests as well as oil, built their homes in the River Crest neighborhood.

http://libraries.uta.edu/speccoll/crose03/meacham.htm

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/oswald1.htm

According to McAdams at above url, Oswald lived in Arlington Heights on at least two occasions, 1948 and 1956. He attended Arlington Heights High School (the same high school from which David Atlee Phillips graduated) for less than one month in September 1956.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...sPageId=1005883

W. T. Waggoner, mentioned above, was the son of Dan Waggoner, who had died in 1903. Edwin Phillips had his law office in the Waggoner Bldg. in Fort Worth. "In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors." http://www.waggonerranch.com/

The job David's mother held had some connection with the chamber of commerce or local business interests in Fort Worth, and would thus have made the family's livelihood dependent upon the wealthy residents of that neighborhood. It may not be coincidental that John Connally and Robert B. Anderson also were attorneys for the W. T. Waggoner estate and that it was part of the land owned by that estate which was the primary asset of the Great Southwest Corporation in Arlington.

Does any of this help to explain for whom David Atlee Phillips worked?

To me it does.

LM

[Jack White]

David Atlee Phillips and his family are a ripe area for research. Phillips is my main

suspect.

W.T. Waggoner and family are not. Their interests were horses, cattle, and oil.

As far as is known, they had little interest in politics. They built the first horserace

track in Texas, Arlington Downs. They sold the racetrack land to Dallas interests

which built GSW...nothing suspicious there...that was back in the 40s-50s.

As for the W.T. Waggoner building, at the time of construction it was the tallest

building in Fort Worth, 20 stories, and still stands today. It is not suspicious that

anyone might have an office in such a building.

Many wealthy people lived in the Rivercrest area...nothing suspicious about that.

Jack

Edited July 16, 2008 by Jack White

[Christopher Hall]

David Atlee Phillips and his family are a ripe area for research. Phillips is my main

suspect.

W.T. Waggoner and family are not. Their interests were horses, cattle, and oil.

As far as is known, they had little interest in politics. They built the first horserace

track in Texas, Arlington Downs. They sold the racetrack land to Dallas interests

which built GSW...nothing suspicious there...that was back in the 40s-50s.

As for the W.T. Waggoner building, at the time of construction it was the tallest

building in Fort Worth, 20 stories, and still stands today. It is not suspicious that

anyone might have an office in such a building.

Many wealthy people lived in the Rivercrest area...nothing suspicious about that.

Jack

I would add EHH to DAP, Jack, as the chief suspects.

And they had other similariites, such as being novelists.

[Jack White]

David Atlee Phillips and his family are a ripe area for research. Phillips is my main

suspect.

W.T. Waggoner and family are not. Their interests were horses, cattle, and oil.

As far as is known, they had little interest in politics. They built the first horserace

track in Texas, Arlington Downs. They sold the racetrack land to Dallas interests

which built GSW...nothing suspicious there...that was back in the 40s-50s.

As for the W.T. Waggoner building, at the time of construction it was the tallest

building in Fort Worth, 20 stories, and still stands today. It is not suspicious that

anyone might have an office in such a building.

Many wealthy people lived in the Rivercrest area...nothing suspicious about that.

Jack

I would add EHH to DAP, Jack, as the chief suspects.

And they had other similariites, such as being novelists.

Yes...and they were best friends. Called each other by chess names...KNIGHT and BISHOP.

They were operational, at the behest of LBJ, Dulles, Hoover and others.

Jack

[Linda Minor]

David Atlee Phillips and his family are a ripe area for research. Phillips is my main

suspect.

W.T. Waggoner and family are not. Their interests were horses, cattle, and oil.

As far as is known, they had little interest in politics. They built the first horserace

track in Texas, Arlington Downs. They sold the racetrack land to Dallas interests

which built GSW...nothing suspicious there...that was back in the 40s-50s.

As for the W.T. Waggoner building, at the time of construction it was the tallest

building in Fort Worth, 20 stories, and still stands today. It is not suspicious that

anyone might have an office in such a building.

Many wealthy people lived in the Rivercrest area...nothing suspicious about that.

Jack

I would add EHH to DAP, Jack, as the chief suspects.

And they had other similariites, such as being novelists.

Yes...and they were best friends. Called each other by chess names...KNIGHT and BISHOP.

They were operational, at the behest of LBJ, Dulles, Hoover and others.

Jack

While I agree both are highly suspicious and IMO involved; neither could have been involved without some they worked with - and more so, their superiors knowing or suspecting [and finding out after]. Yet all the official silences. I have long believed that many many persons and institutions that knew [later on] damn well what happened and what didn't [no lone nut killed JFK] felt it better for the 'country' [read: financial and power interests of the Established Elites] to just let the official lie remain the false epitaph. Of course, the plan was to have a patsy to not expose those who really 'pulled the trigger' and overthrew the USA. So many more of their silences than were guilty of the crime. We now have a Nation build on lies and false history/motives. Shameful, and having its effects on us every day in ever increasingly negative ways. It is not fading away into history - but intensifying and the 'cancer' spreading.

Consider the fact that the Waggoner family had lobbied for years to legalize horserace gambling in Texas. They succeeded I believe one year before W.T. Waggoner died. The state of Texas collected taxes from the racetracks, and the job fell under the office of the Commissioner of Taxes, who was a young attorney named Robert Bernerd Anderson. Once the law legalizing the betting was repealed, Guy Waggoner moved to California in a huff and the estate (W.T.'s children) hired the former tax commissioner, Robert B. Anderson, to administer the estate. Besides the land in Arlington (their racetrack had been named Arlington Downs), the estate owned lands centered around Vernon, Texas, north of Dallas. Anderson moved up to that area and began to develop the oil lands owned by the estate. He was a Republican and came into contact with others like John Tower, who was an economics professor in Wichita Falls.

Anderson successfully managed to refine and contract to sell his oil, not to the major oil companies, but to the U.S. Government--specifically to the Navy Department. It's no wonder that Texas independent oilmen who made large political contributions wanted to control the Navy's chief civilian appointee, who was the one who made decisions on oil contracts. When David Atlee Phillips was approached to work for the CIA, he was already well known to the wealthy oilmen in Fort Worth, since they lived in the same neighborhood and socialized in the same country club. As we say in Texas, "They had known his daddy."

E. Howard Hunt was not from the same financial and social network as Phillips, but his status was somewhat equivalent. As he relates his background in Undercover, "My father was a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and they belonged to two country clubs and the Buffalo Athletic Club, of which my father was a founding member, along with another contemporary Buffalo lawyer, William J. Donovan." Then he recites a plethora of clubs the family were members of. With his father's law practice diminished by the Great War, he began working at Donovan's behest in the 1920's (well before any civilian intelligence agency had ever been created in the U.S.) for a "Northern financial consortium" on whose behalf he "became active in Canadian gold and silver mining and in Oklahoma oil". By the time Hunt was discharged from the naval reserve in 1941, his father was a lobbyist in Albany for the insurance industry, and Howard became a novelist until the U.S. entered the war and entered Air Force Intelligence School. He got into the O.S.S. through his father's contacts with Donovan. His recruitment into the CIA came years later, after his father introduced him to Paul Hoffman who then headed the European recovery program (Marshall Plan). He then joined the staff of Averell Harriman at the Economic Cooperation Administration. While there he came in contract with many Democrats of the day who would later attempt to mentor JFK into their way of protecting the financial investments of the financial network they represented, by and large that of the Morgan banking interests.

In my opinion we cannot understand what happened to Kennedy unless we understand how capitalism works and how separate networks of consortia and syndicates compete for political power in order to protect investments made in the past. Men like Harriman (Nelson Rockefeller may be another) are the reason it is so difficult to understand who the real decision makers are. The Cold War really began with the Marshall Plan and the ECA--the propaganda machine, the coups, the assassinations were all about protected capitalist assets and investments that had been made decades earlier. Why hesitate to kill an American who was inclined to do to the same thing African and Latin leaders had been killed for?

EHH and DAP were not more powerful than the social and financial networks they rose out of. All these networks overlap to such an extent it is almost impossible to separate them. But it is possible to identify the threads within each network and see how they weave together to create this American intelligence tapestry.

LM

[Michael Clark]

On 8/11/2005 at 2:04 PM, Ryan Crowe said:

I found this last night.............

Perhaps because of the following account, David Atlee Phillips was questioned by the HSCA about his possible relationship with both Freeport Sulphur and Moa Bay Mining Company. While working for the HSCA, Fonzi interviewed James Cogswell III, in his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Cogswell presented Fonzi with various leads he felt were important to the case, one of which was the following:

Cogswell says the Bishop sketch resembles the former president of a Moa Bay subsidiary, Freeport Sulphur of New Orleans. Cogswell doesn't remember name of that officer, but says he knew he had very powerful connections and came from Texas.

When Phillips, who came from Texas, was asked about Freeport, the HSCA staffer noted this response:

Mr. Phillips stated that he "probably" did have some contacts with someone or some persons associated with the Moa Bay Mining Company, but he did not recall any specific names. He also "must have" had some contact with Freeport Sulphur people. "I was fairly socially active at the time and the name of the company is familiar to me."

Note that Phillips did not deny an association, but left it to the investigators to find more. Steve Dorrill reported in the Lobster article mentioned previously that one of the pilots of the Moa Bay Mining Company was Pedro Diaz Lanz, a hotshot pilot who defected from the head of Castro's air force and subsequently befriended both Frank Sturgis and E. Howard Hunt, both of whom have also been closely associated with David Phillips. Another employee of the Moa Bay Mining Company, Jorge Alfredo Tarafa, listed Freeport Nickel Company, Moa Bay Cuba as his place of employment from 9/21/59 to 4/8/60 on his job resume. Tarafa was identified as a delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Front (FRD) in New Orleans, headed by Sergio Arcacha Smith. The FRD was the group that E. Howard Hunt set up with exiled Cuban leader Tony Varona to sponsor anti-Castro activities.

Arcacha, Banister, and "Mr. Phillips"

Probe has turned up a long lost transcript of a deposition of a person whose name would be instantly recognized by anyone who has studied the Kennedy assassination. It is our hope to reveal the source of this deposition to the ARRB if and when they come to the West Coast.

In this deposition, we find the following startling information. Picking up where the witness was telling how Sergio Arcacha Smith, one of Garrison's original suspects in the Kennedy assassination planning, had invited the witness to a meeting in Guy Banister's office:

Q: Did you go alone to that meeting?

A: As I recall, I did, yes.

Q: Who was there?

A: Mr. Banister, Mr. Arcacha Smith, and Mr. Phillips.

Q: Do you know his first name [meaning Phillips]?

A: No.

Q: Had you seen him before?

A: No.

Q: Was he a Latin?

A: No.

Q: What was his interest in the meeting?

A: He seemed to be running the show.

Q: Telling Banister and Arcacha Smith what to do?

A: His presence was commanding. It wasn't in an orderly military situation, you know. It was just they seemed to introduce Mr. Phillips.

Q: How old a man was he?

A: I would say he was around 51, 52 [Note: the speaker is young.]

Q: American?

A: American.

Q: Was he identified as to his background?

A: No.

Q: Were hints dropped as to his background?

A: Just that he was from Washington, that's all.

Q: Did you assume from that he was with the CIA?

A: I didn't assume anything, I never assume anything. . . .I think someone mentioned something about this conversation isn't taking place.

The project that Banister and Arcacha and Mr. Phillips were working on, according to the witness, was to be a televised anti-Castro propaganda program, something that would have been in the direct purview of David Phillips as chief of propaganda for Cuban operations at that time.

Excellent thread, with research on Freeport Sulpher. But I am wondering if the source of the above-mentioned deposition was ever revealed.

****edit: Jim DiEugenio answered the above question....

Jim D said: 

The witness from the deposition from Probe was Gordon Novel. The deposition was taken during his libel suit against Playboy magazine, for Garrison mentioning him during his famous interview. In the mid nineties, I tracked down the defense lawyer, a guy named David Krupp. I called him up to try and locate the deposition.  He said he probably would not recall a lawsuit from that long ago or the witness. This colloquy then followed:

"Oh, you will remember this guy."  

"Who is it?"  

"Gordon Novel."  

"Oh, Gordon!  He was one of the more colorful characters I interviewed."

Then he directed me toward the Playboy legal department. They actually sent me the entire three day interview in a bound set of about 12 volumes.  They paid for both the shipping and duplicating.  Lisa Pease actually read every page of it, and she put together a three part series for Probe based upon the deposition.  And this is just one part of one installment.

And to me its not even the highlight.  The highlight is when he describes his relationship with Allen Dulles during the Garrison investigation.

Its very unfortunate what happened to Novel at about the time of the Church Committee and the coming of the HSCA.  That is a long, convoluted and complex saga that no one has ever written about except some alternative newspapers down in New Orleans.  Suffice it to say, very few people who were in any way approachable, knew as much about what happened to JFK as he did.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Michael Clark

[Michael Clark]

On 7/16/2008 at 5:42 PM, Jack White said:

David Atlee Phillips and his family are a ripe area for research. Phillips is my main

suspect.

W.T. Waggoner and family are not. Their interests were horses, cattle, and oil.

As far as is known, they had little interest in politics. They built the first horserace

track in Texas, Arlington Downs. They sold the racetrack land to Dallas interests

which built GSW...nothing suspicious there...that was back in the 40s-50s.

As for the W.T. Waggoner building, at the time of construction it was the tallest

building in Fort Worth, 20 stories, and still stands today. It is not suspicious that

anyone might have an office in such a building.

Many wealthy people lived in the Rivercrest area...nothing suspicious about that.

Jack

James McCord Jr. Worked for the Waggoner bank, early in his career.

Also, David Boylan posted a document recently, showing that Mccord Worked for Phillips while in the CIA.

Mccord provides a line from Phillips directly to Oswald. McCord was in charge of an operation to infiltrate the FPCC.

[Robert Harper]

 

12 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

charge of an operation to infiltrate the FPCC.

I could see where guys like Hunt and Harvey and Philips would enjoy screwing certain "lefties" in the news who signed a supportive ad in the newspapers for this group. From wikipedia:

 

Among its twenty-nine early notable supporters were William Appleman Williams, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Waldo Frank. Alan Sagner and Carleton Beals.^[

 

 

[James DiEugenio]

The witness from the deposition from Probe was Gordon Novel. The deposition was taken during his libel suit against Playboy magazine, for Garrison mentioning him during his famous interview. In the mid nineties, I tracked down the defense lawyer, a guy named David Krupp. I called him up to try and locate the deposition.  He said he probably would not recall a lawsuit from that long ago or the witness. This colloquy then followed:

"Oh, you will remember this guy."  

"Who is it?"  

"Gordon Novel."  

"Oh, Gordon!  He was one of the more colorful characters I interviewed."

Then he directed me toward the Playboy legal department. They actually sent me the entire three day interview in a bound set of about 12 volumes.  They paid for both the shipping and duplicating.  Lisa Pease actually read every page of it, and she put together a three part series for Probe based upon the deposition.  And this is just one part of one installment.

And to me its not even the highlight.  The highlight is when he describes his relationship with Allen Dulles during the Garrison investigation.

Its very unfortunate what happened to Novel at about the time of the Church Committee and the coming of the HSCA.  That is a long, convoluted and complex saga that no one has ever written about except some alternative newspapers down in New Orleans.  Suffice it to say, very few people who were in any way approachable, knew as much about what happened to JFK as he did.

[Ron Bulman]

So Everette Howard Hunt referred to David Altee Phillips by the chess term Bishop and Phillips referred to Hunt as Knight, per Jack White.  I never read that before.

Is there a link, maybe through the Probe archives, one can read Novel's description of his relationship with Dulles during the Garrison investigation?  It's really interesting.  The CIA was keeping tabs on a daily basis but Dulles was long gone from the CIA.  Why would he be personally involved at that point?

[Ron Bulman]

The Assassinations, pg. 34, "Novel, no visible means of support".  "Clandestine payments".  'itinerant Novel now has four attorney's".

I'd forgotten Dulles was subpoenaed by Garrison.  

Edited April 8, 2018 by Ron Bulman

[Michael Clark]

Polygraph test of Gordon Novell.

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/104-10106-10826.pdf